Thousands of Jobs Will be Created

SACRAMENTO, CA

This year, Congress has passed one of the biggest highway and mass transit bills in history-- a $217 billion package that promises to create a great deal of prevailing wage work over the next six year. According to the California Landscape & Irrigation Council (CLIC), the new Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century-- or TEA-21, as it is more commonly known-- will create 500,000 new union jobs while sustaining the 1.5 million existing jobs in heavy construction.

TEA-21 authorizes $175 billion for the nation's highways, $41 billion for mass transit, and $2 billion for highway safety. Funding levels for federal highway construction and repair will increase by more than 40% over the next six years.

CLIC public works contractors are beginning to reevaluate their position on biding highway landscaping work, since California will get more highway money than any other state-- an average $2.4 billion per year over the next six years. As a result, an estimated 170,000 construction jobs will be created in the state.